title: Feasibility of breast conserving surgery in multifocal breast cancers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multifocal breast cancers (MFBCs) present a challenge to surgeons. Although its feasibility is still controversial, breast-conserving surgery (BCS) is not contraindicated for MFBCs. The investigators retrospectively evaluated the feasibility of BCS and reviewed histopathologic findings in patients with MFBC.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 222 patients with MFBC who were treated with either BCS (119 patients) or mastectomy (103 patients) at a single institution between January 2002 and December 2011 were retrospectively evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median follow-up time was 55 months (range, 10 to 102 months). Lymphovascular invasion and lymph node involvement were significantly less frequent in the BCS group (48.8% vs 62.2% for lymphovascular invasion, P = .04; 52.1% vs 71.8% for lymph node involvement, P = .002). There were no differences in local recurrence rates between the 2 groups. The overall survival rates were 92% in the BCS group and 72% in the mastectomy group (P = .000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BCS is a feasible and safe procedure for the removal of multifocal tumors. Extended lymphovascular invasion is associated with mortality in patients who undergo mastectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Bezmialem Vakıf Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi Hastanesi, Fatih/Istanbul 34083, Turkey. Electronic address: huseyinkadioglu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hüseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kadioğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Bezmialem Vakıf Üniversitesi, Fatih/Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Serap
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yücel
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Bezmialem Vakıf Üniversitesi, Fatih/Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Seyma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yildiz
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Bezmialem Vakıf Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi Hastanesi, Fatih/Istanbul 34083, Turkey.
authors.forename: Süleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bozkurt
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Bezmialem Vakıf Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi Hastanesi, Fatih/Istanbul 34083, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yeliz Emine
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Ersoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Bezmialem Vakıf Üniversitesi, Fatih/Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sağlam
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Bezmialem Vakıf Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi Hastanesi, Fatih/Istanbul 34083, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mahmut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Müslümanoğlu
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018275:Carcinoma, Lobular / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008408:Mastectomy; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Breast-conserving surgery; Multifocal; Survival